ALCOCK, Sir Rutherford.

The capital of the tycoon: a narrative of a three years' residence in Japan. London, Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green (colophons: printed by Spottiswoode & Co.), 1863 [reissued with publisher's advertisements dated April 1875]. 2 volumes. 8vo. With 2 chromolithographed frontispieces, 2 folding engraved maps (partly coloured), 14 tinted, double-tinted and chromolithographed plates (at least one highlighted with silver colour) drawn mostly by Charles Wirgman (1832-1891) and lithographed by Hanhart, 2 black & white wood-engraved plates (engraved by Pearson) and numerous wood-engraved illustrations in text (some signed by Pearson). Original publisher's gold- and blind-blocked green cloth.

XXXII, 469, [2]; X, 539 pp.First edition of a famous work on Japan by Sir Rutherford Alcock (1809-1897), the first British consul in Japan extensively illustrated with numerous chromolithographs and wood engravings. Alcock describes Nagasaki, Yokohama, a trip to Hokkaido and Japanese foreign relations, including differences between the U.S. Consul and the European Consuls. Alcock made many journeys during his stay in Japan, and records the manners and customs of the Japanese. The appendix contains notes on the agriculture, trees and flora by Mr. Veitch. A "classic work" on Japan. Tipped in is a 1-page autograph letter, signed, from the author, dated 1 July 1878. With an occasional very minor stain, hinges reinforced, otherwise in very good condition and wholly untrimmed.l Cordier, Japonica 556; Wenckstern I, 43.

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Book number: 66PFFBR5F56X

Keywords: [9EE06DC76F16] ASIA|[9EE06DC76F16] ASIA -> [C4A78A11DA49] Cartography & Exploration|[9EE06DC76F16] ASIA -> [5DEE919627A0] Japan & Far East|[80CBADC1D9E8] CARTOGRAPHY & EXPLORATION|[80CBADC1D9E8] CARTOGRAPHY & EXPLORATION -> [C1D22201B2B0] Asia|[80CBADC1D9

ALCOCK, Alfred William.

A naturalist in Indian seas or, four years with the Royal Indian marine survey ship "Investigator".London, John Murray (colophon: printed by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh), 1902. 8vo. With a photogravure frontispiece depicting the Investigator, a folding map and 98 illustrations on 58 plates. Contemporary black-blocked cloth; rebacked with brown board, modern endpapers.

XXIV, 328 pp.First edition of the best-known work of the British physician and naturalist Alfred William Alcock (1859-1933), describing the voyages of the Royal Indian Marine survey ship the Investigator. The book is divided into three parts. The first can be seen as an introduction to marine surveys of the waters around India, describing the seas, sea beds, tides, currents, coral reefs, coasts, islands etc. and Alcock's own experiences on board. The second part covers the deep-sea fauna of the Indian Ocean, including fish, crustaceans, molluscs, echinoderms and sponges, many of which are shown on the plates. The last part contains the appendices, containing lists of dredging stations and a bibliography.Slightly browned, otherwise in very good condition. Binding only slightly rubbed.l Dean I, p. 18; A.S. Troelstra, Bibliography of natural history travel narratives, pp. 34-35.

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Book number: K8LBEAGC12HN

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ALDAY Y ASPEE (AZPEE), Manuel de.

Synodo Diocesana, ... Lima, Oficina de la Calle de la Encarnacion, 1764. With the half-title and title-page printed in red and black, the latter in a red and black ornamented border built up from cast fleurons, each page with the text, running heads and shoulder notes in frames of thick-thin rules, a woodcut headpiece and woodcut decorated initial. With: (2) CARRASCO Y SAAVEDRA, Bernardo. Synodo diocesana, con la carta pastoral convocatoria para ella: y otra, en orden a la paga de los diezmos.Lima, Imprenta Real, 1764. With the title-page printed in red, green and black in a border of fleurons and other typographical elements also printed in red, green and black. With each page in a frame of rules and fleurons, woodcut tailpieces and decorated initials, numerous headpieces and other decorations built up from cast fleurons. 2 works in 1 volume. Folio. Contemporary overlapping limp sheepskin parchment.

[8], 170, [26]; [14], 168 pp.Two beautiful colonial imprints from Lima, Peru, bound together in one volume, containing interesting accounts of two synods held in Santiago, the capital of Chile, in 1688 and 1763. The Synod of 1688 was organized by the Bishop of Santiago, Don Bernardo Carrasco y Saavedra, and that of 1763 by Bishop Dr Don Manuel de Alday y Aspee. The description of the Synod of 1688 was first printed in Lima in 1690. That of 1763 is printed here for the first time and the two works were apparently designed for publication together, though they name different printing offices (they are often found bound together).The accounts give detailed information on both ecclesiastical matters and daily life in colonial Chile, including the text of the constitution outlining the rules of the Catholic Church. The accounts also describe a variety of cultural events such as dances, bullfights and games.With a manuscript note by the notary Nicolas Herrera on the first half-title. With the first leaf of the first work nearly detached from the book block and attached to the pastedown, but otherwise in very good condition, with only some marginal water stains on the first few leaves and four leaves somewhat browned. The parchment cover appears to have been taken from an older book. The parchment is wrinkled and shows various holes and folds from its use for the older binding. Accounts of synods, containing information on the church and daily life in colonial Chile in the 17th and 18th century.l Leclerq 1946; Medina 1210; Palau 325995-325996; Sabin 11036 (2nd work only).

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Book number: 77JBDTSG7PUR

Keywords: [E5FB9A6D8BD3] AMERICAS|[E5FB9A6D8BD3] AMERICAS -> [E714FD7DC113] South America|[0953FE2C125A] RELIGION & DEVOTION|[0953FE2C125A] RELIGION & DEVOTION -> [G21IZ5T53226] Church History & Missions|

ALDROVANDI (ALDOVANDUS), Ulisse.

[Opera omnia]. Bologna, 1599-1668. 13 volumes. Folio (35 x 24 cm). With engraved title-page to each volume, engraved full-page portrait of Aldrovandi in 3 volumes and several thousand woodcut illustrations in text, mostly after designs by J. Ligozzi and many full-page. Blind-tooled vellum (ca. 1645 & ca. 1670), with a large centrepiece on each board (the 11 volumes dated 1599-1642 from a single block; the 2 volumes dated 1648 & 1667 from a different block), the spines uniformly gold-tooled in the 18th-century.

Ten first (1599-1668) and three later (1634-1638) editions forming the complete works of Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605), an Italian botanist, pharmacologist and a professor of botany at the university of Bologna. This massive encyclopaedia, most volumes published posthumously, was based on natural history specimens and drawings in Aldrovandi's own museum in Bologna. Already in the 1570s he welcomed visitors from near and far to his museum and at his death in 1605 he left it to the city of Bologna, making it the first institutional herbarium.Aldrovandi, hailed as the "Pliny of his time", was the author of several encyclopaedic works on natural history, the Opera being his most extensive work and also the largest collection of natural history illustrations published before the 18th century. Many of the illustrations in these 13 volumes are the work of Jacopo Ligozzi. The original drawings are still in Bologna and have been made available online. The Aldrovandi herbarium was the biggest of the 16th century herbaria and gives the most complete picture of the plant world as known at the time in Italy.A detailed list of contents is available upon request.In very good condition, with some waterstains and occasional browning. One volume has the head of the backstrip restored and several have cracks in the hinges, but the bindings remain good.l Adams A-647; BMC NH I, pp. 26-27; Nissen, BBI 14; Nissen, IVB 18; Nissen ZBI 66, 68, 70, 72, 74-78; for Aldrovandi's museum: Findlen, Possessing nature, pp. 17-31; Stafleu & Cowan, pp. 28-29.

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Book number: 93CEC2ZF1Q3L

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[ALF LAYLA WA-LAYLA].

Historia de Ganem, filho de Abou Aibou, denominado o escravo de amor. Traduzida do Arabio em Francez, e ultimamente no idioma Portuguez, por B.A.E.(Colophon: Lisbon, Francisco Borges de Sousa, 1792). Small 4to (21 x 15 cm). Disbound, spine lined with a strip of black paper.

39, [1 blank] pp.Extremely rare second edition of a rare Portuguese translation of the History of Ganem, the slave of love, a story from the Arabian Nights. The story tells of Ganem, a son of a merchant from Damascus, who upon his father's death travels to Baghdad to sell his father's leftover stock. Once in Baghdad the young Ganem falls in love with the favourite concubine of the caliph. The story is translated into Portuguese from the French translation of Jean Antoine Galland from the beginning of the 18th-century.With spots on the first and last leaves, a stain on leaf B1 and a couple tiny holes in the outer margin of the last leaf. In good condition.l Porbase (1 copy); WorldCat (1 copy); cf. Rodrigues, Novelística estrangeira 268.

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Book number: I4PCNC5R4WMR

Keywords: [6369B77AC038] LITERATURE & LINGUISTICS|[6369B77AC038] LITERATURE & LINGUISTICS -> [C60CF2EA3C85] Literature & Linguistics|[G8L0P27N9XV3] MIDDLE EAST & ISLAMIC WORLD|[G8L0P27N9XV3] MIDDLE EAST & ISLAMIC WORLD -> [G91DLH5WUBDJ] Islamic Art & Culture|[GA7ES

[ALGIERS - TREATY - STATES GENERAL].

Tractaat tusschen haar hoog mogende de heeren Staaten Generaal ... en de regeeringe van Algiers. Geslooten in het jaar 1757.With: (2) Ampliatie tot het tractaat van vrede tusschen ... de Staaten Generaal ... en den Dey en regeering van Algiers. Exhibitum den 10 October 1760.Middelburg, Johan Bakker, [1758]. 4to. With the woodcut coat of arms of the Dutch admiralty on the title-page. Contemporary marbled wrappers.

18; 3, [1 blank] pp.Rare second(?) edition of a peace treaty between the Dutch Republic and the Regency of Algiers, signed in 1757, ending the war that had started in 1755. It lists the agreements made between the two parties, especially concerning Algiers's attitude towards ships sailing the waters around and ports of Algiers. Some articles deal with pirates, (Dutch) merchants, and the buying and selling of ships. Inserted at the end is a brief complement, printed in 1760, including three more articles in addition to the original treaty. Some small stains. Paper wrappers worn. Otherwise in good condition.l STCN (1 copy); cf. Knuttel 18670; not in Playfair.

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Book number: K5MABE3DUEBG

Keywords: [4C531C9794C4] AFRICA|[4C531C9794C4] AFRICA -> [C98C41A79B35] North Africa & Egypt|[G8L04JB1BVED] MARITIME HISTORY|[G8L04JB1BVED] MARITIME HISTORY -> [G8L08SGCHNIZ] Mutiny, Piracy & Shipwrecks|[G8L04JB1BVED] MARITIME HISTORY -> [G8N93VI0LTSB] Naval Histor

[ALGIERS - TREATY - STATES GENERAL].

Tractaet tusschen Haer Hoogh Mog. De Heeren Staten Generael der vereenighde Nederlanden, ende de Regeeringe van Algiers.The Hague, Paulus Scheltus, 1713. 4to. With Scheltus's woodcut printer's device on the title-page and with a woodcut initial. Modern brown wrappers with printed title-label pasted on the front side.

14, [2] pp.First edition of the text of a treaty between the States General of the Dutch Republic and the government, or the Dey (or Sultan) of Algiers Baba Ali Chaouche who reigned from 1710-1718 (Dey, from the Turkish honorific title dayi, literally meaning uncle, was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards). The treaty was concluded on the 18th of June 1712 at Algiers by the Dutch consul general Johan van Baarle (consul 1709-1716), and ratified the 4th of July 1712.The XXII articles of the treaty mirror very interestingly the problems the Dutch merchants trading in the Mediterranean and the (war)ships of the Dutch West India Company protecting their interests, encountered on the northern coasts of Africa: Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. In these articles taxes and imposts are regulated as well as compensations and claims for damages, arrangements in case of deaths, treatment and buying off of (Dutch and European) slaves, and returning of run off slaves.In good condition.l Knuttel 16193.

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Book number: ABC_46095

Keywords: [4C531C9794C4] AFRICA|[4C531C9794C4] AFRICA -> [C98C41A79B35] North Africa & Egypt|[4C531C9794C4] AFRICA -> [ABC_000679] Slavery|[E5FB9A6D8BD3] AMERICAS -> [ABC_000680] Slavery|[BFFF1D78AE20] HISTORY, LAW & PHILOSOPHY|[BFFF1D78AE20] HISTORY, LAW & PHILOSO

[ALGIERS & SPAIN]. J. M. (artist?).

[Views and people along the Mediterranean coasts of France, Spain and Algeria].[London sketchbook used in the Mediterranean], 1881. Small oblong 8vo (8,5 x 13 cm). Album (sketchbook) containing 28 pencil drawings (1 double-page), 2 colored drawings and 4 watercolors (1 double-page ) with handwritten captions in English. Half checkered black morocco. With advertising label of “Lechertier, Barbe & Co. Artists’ colourmen and Stationers, Regent Street, London” with prices of the various sketchbooks for sale; at the head the artist’s(?) initials and date: “J.M. 1881”.

70 pp.Very charming album, apparently made during a Mediterranean cruise ca. 1881. The cruise began in Marseille and ended in Biarritz:The Notre Dame de la Garde in Marseille (drawing); View of Palma de (Mallorca: deleted) Minorca (Menorca; or: Ibiza?; drawing); Two women in Algiers: one standing, one sitting (drawing); Sketch of a mosque in Algiers (drawing); Street in the old city of Algiers (colored drawing); Charming view of a café with people sitting outside under banana palm trees (colored drawing); Beautiful double-page view of the recently built (1872) Notre Dame d’Afrique on a hill above Algiers (watercolor); Moslem cemetery in Algiers (watercolor); Beautiful watercolor of a street in Oran; “Les deux-Frères” in the harbor of Nemours (now: Ghazaoue) (drawing); The old harbor of Biarritz (drawing); “Moorish woman” with a description of her costume (drawing); pasted to inside back board: Plant (“Salide”?) (drawing).The strap is frayed, but the sketchbook is further in very good condition.

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Book number: ABC_45368

Keywords: [4C531C9794C4] AFRICA|[4C531C9794C4] AFRICA -> [C98C41A79B35] North Africa & Egypt|[04F65CFF5112] ART, ARCHITECTURE & PHOTOGRAPHY|[04F65CFF5112] ART, ARCHITECTURE & PHOTOGRAPHY -> [G91CNMP078RQ] Drawings, Prints & Watercolours|[403A2955597B] AUTOGRAPHS, D

ALKEMADE, Kornelis van.

Behandeling van 't kamp-regt; d'aaloude en opperste regts-vordering voor 't hof van Holland, onder de eerste graaven.Delft, Andries Voorstad, 1702. 8vo. With engraved frontispiece and 7 full-page engraved plates (frontispiece and first 3 plates (partly) colored by hand). Contemporary vellum.

[22], 236 pp.Second (but first illustrated) edition of this well-known work on medieval legal claiming (Rechtsvordering) and justice by means of duels and single combats. It is partly a re-issue - quire A-O - of the first edition of 1699 with the same Delft publisher. Only the title-page and the introduction are different and the last quire (P) is reset accurately including the mistakes in the text and pagination; a dedication to the Rotterdam ex-burgomaster Adriaan Vroesen is added.Cornelis van Alkemade (1654-1737) published a fair number of historical studies, later together with his sun-in-law Pieter van der Schelling who also published the third, much enlarged edition of the Kamp-Regt in 1740 (Rotterdam, Philip Losel), adding his own treatise on dueling: Verhandeling over … het geregtelijk kampen, mitsgaders van de Duëllen.With the book-plate of Claude André Hartman (1886-1975), a dutch officer and since 1953 director of the Dutch army museum at Delft. In very good condition.l NNBW, 6, cols. 30-31; G.D.J. Schotel, Leven, Gedrukte Werken en Handschriften van Cornelis van Alkemade en Pieter van der Schelling (Breda, 1833), pp. 81-88; E.O.G. Haitsma Mulier & G.A. van der Lem, m.m.v P. Knevel, Repertorium van geschiedschrijvers in Nederland, 9 (1990), pp. 7-8.

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Book number: J43CQL5NB338

Keywords: [BFFF1D78AE20] HISTORY, LAW & PHILOSOPHY|[BFFF1D78AE20] HISTORY, LAW & PHILOSOPHY -> [7D9788317463] Law & Politics|[KCVDN0K9X7XL] MILITARY HISTORY|[KCVDN0K9X7XL] MILITARY HISTORY -> [KCVE6ENMXKKO] Military History 18th Century|

ALKEMADE, Cornelis van and Pieter van der SCHELLING.

Beschryving van de stad Briele, en den lande van Voorn, …Rotterdam, Philippus Losel, 1729. 2 parts in 1 volume. Folio. With a double-page engraved plan of Den Briel and 3 folding engraved maps of different parts of Voorne (each ca. 50 x 70.5 cm). Contemporary blind-tooled vellum.

[28], 224, [8], 225-376; [8], 306, [20] pp.First and only edition of a topographical and historical description of Den Briel on the island of Voorne. Cornelis van Alkemade (1654-1737) and his son-in-law Pieter van der Schelling (1691-1751) shared a passion for collecting coins, seals, official documents, autographs and books. Van Alkemade also copied many historical documents. The present work reflects his collection on Den Briel, the city that will always be remembered for being the first to be captured by the Dutch in the 80 Years' War in 1572. Van Alkemade gives the usual historical and geographical description, which describes among other things the successive growth of the polders on the island of Voorne, and chronicles the history of the noble family that governed Voorne. The present work is especially interesting because it contains the first published text of Jan Matthijsen's famous Rechtsboek of the city of Den Briel. It was probably written between 1400 and 1423, and is one of the oldest and most important sources of for the study of Dutch law.Maps with tears in some folds, a few leaves with some names checked off and a water stain in the upper right corner of the last 25 leaves. The blind-stamped centrepiece on the front board has cut through the vellum at the upper right edge. In good condition.l Donkersloot-de Vrij 247; V. Eeghen & V.d. Kellen 473; Klaversma & Hannema 47.

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Book number: F12E06CFFZDL

Keywords: [80CBADC1D9E8] CARTOGRAPHY & EXPLORATION|[80CBADC1D9E8] CARTOGRAPHY & EXPLORATION -> [G2MMG7CAUIT4] Geography, Topography & Views|[80CBADC1D9E8] CARTOGRAPHY & EXPLORATION -> [G2KCM1MFQHCT] Low Countries|[BFFF1D78AE20] HISTORY, LAW & PHILOSOPHY|[BFFF1D78AE

ALKEN, Henry.

The beauties and defects in the figure of the horse.London, S. & J. Fuller, [1816]. 4to. With an engraved title-page with a circular vignette and 18 hand-coloured etched plates. Original boards. Untrimmed.

Engraved title-page plus 2, [18] pp. plus 18 plates.First edition. An uncut copy, in its original pictorial boards, of the first book published under Alken's name. He mentions his "habit of riding young and violent horses with fox-hounds", and of having a mare that caused him "four or five falls a day upon an average, and all in consequence of her violent bucking leaps."With the bookplate of Prince Henry, Duke of Goucester.l Huth 85; Mellon 73; Mennessier de la Lance 14; Schwerdt I, 12; Tooley, Some English books with coloured plates 20.

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Book number: F6LD9NGD6WH5

Keywords: [439A0DC5CB7B] HORSES, HUNTING, SPORT & GAMES|[439A0DC5CB7B] HORSES, HUNTING, SPORT & GAMES -> [7459DDD4492B] Horses & Horsemanship|

ALKEN, Henry.

Qualified horses and unqualified riders, or the reverse of sporting phrases taken from the work entitled Indispensable accomplishments.London, S. & J. Fuller, 1815 [-1819]. Oblong folio (25 x 34.4 cm). With engraved title-page, 7 hand-coloured engraved plates by Alken, including plate 5 with a J. Whatman 1819 watermark. Later red hard-grained half morocco, spine and front board lettered in gold. Re-backed preserving the original spine.

First edition, early issue. The first of Alken's works to have a title-page, "lacking from a great many copies" (Dixon). Signed Ben Tally Ho, the title explains with good humour that the plates are a reply to Robert Frankland's Indispensable accomplishments, a set of 6 Leicestershire hunting prints published in June 1811. Where Frankland blames the horse for any failures, Alken aims to show how a perfectly good horse can be handicapped by an "unqualified" or untrained rider.Light browning to sky areas and plate margins, with the bookplate of Alfred N. Beadleston.l Dixon 4 (noting 2 plates watermarked 1819); Mellon 3; Schwerdt I, 20 (1813 watermark); Siltzer 69 & 74; Tooley, Some English books with coloured plates 44 (dating it 1819).

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Book number: F6LEPBC8G2PH

Keywords: [439A0DC5CB7B] HORSES, HUNTING, SPORT & GAMES|[439A0DC5CB7B] HORSES, HUNTING, SPORT & GAMES -> [7459DDD4492B] Horses & Horsemanship|

ALKEN, Henry.

[The seven ages of the horse].London, S. & J. Fuller, 1825. Oblong 4to (28.4 x 38.2 cm). With 7 hand-coloured etched plates. Red half morocco, marbled endpapers, gilt edges.

[7] ll.A rare and important work by Henry Alken (1785-1851) showing the progression of a race horse through successive stages of life, at one point pampered and adored, at another rejected and scorned by man. In this re-working of The High Mettled Racer, Alken extends the stages of a horse's life from six to seven, in line with Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man. He shows the seven stages: the foal, the colt, the race horse, the hunter, the harness horse and the horse after all this, ending with the horse in his last days. The common thread in this series of plates is the evolution from a fiery and strong race horse to a poor, weakened old horse.Expert repairs to plate corners, light marginal finger-soiling, occasional browning, plates 2 and 4 with very minor marginal tears with two very small repairs to versos.l Dixon 80; Mellon; 62; Tooley 48.

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Book number: F6LE1QW528LR

Keywords: [439A0DC5CB7B] HORSES, HUNTING, SPORT & GAMES|[439A0DC5CB7B] HORSES, HUNTING, SPORT & GAMES -> [7459DDD4492B] Horses & Horsemanship|[GA7EX9C5JN0J] Z HORSES & HUNTING|[GA7EX9C5JN0J] Z HORSES & HUNTING -> [GA7EYCJ10CU8] Horses & Horsemanship|

ALLAIS, Jean Baptiste.

L'art d'ecrire. Paris, chez l'auteur, 1680. Folio. With large woodcut vignette on letterpress title-page, a woodcut headpiece, 2 woodcut decorative initials, decorations built up from cast arabesque fleurons, an engraved calligraphic title-page and 22 (of 23) engraved leaves with calligraphic writing samples and illustrations, all engraved by Louis Senault. Contemporary calf, gold-tooled spine, and unusual marbled paste-downs.

[4], 12 pp. plus 23 (of 24) engr. ll.First edition of a very elaborate basic writing course and copy book, minutely explaining the composition of the various calligraphic hands (françoises, bâtardes, financieres), as well as pen decorations and drawings. The engraved title-page reads, "L'art d'écrire ou Le moyen d'exceler en cet art sans maistre" (suggesting a break with the ancient tradition of learning by apprenticeship or under a school master). The writing examples include numerous exercises of single letters and many alphabets. It also includes illustrations of posture at the writing table, the way to hold the pen and nibs with the angle of cutting and of the nib to the paper. Instructions are often added as well, engraved in a small neat hand, and attention is given to the lay-out of a manuscript. The course was designed by Jean Baptiste Allais, dit le Beaulieu, and engraved by Louis Senault, who was a leading writing master in his own right and therefore ideally suited to engrave his colleague's writing book. At this date the pointed pen was replacing the broad-nibbed pen, and one of the illustrations present here shows the nib of a pointed pen with the split tip spread open. Some copies were issued with only 4 letterpress leaves (quire A) and many copies are missing letterpress leaves or plates. With several calligraphic exercises by owners on the endpapers, one with "Fait par moy René Brisson", another "fait par moy Bernard le Brot[?] ... a Paris" and a calligraphic title signed "Guerbois fils".Lacking the leaf on cutting the pen (which included no writing samples), but otherwise a good copy, with one decorative flourish on the title-page shaved, and some spots and stains. The binding is worn, with some cut marks and scrapes, and 3 small parts of the backstrip have been restored with gold-tooling. A rare, attractive and detailed 17th-century French writing book in a contemporary binding.l Becker, Practice of letters 91 (without [pi]1-2, B1-2); Berlin Kat. 5117 (lacking [pi]1-2, A1); Muller, Cat. Calligr., 1 (22 ll.); Marzoli 56; not in Ekström Coll.

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Book number: 16107

Keywords: [94684889A2BD] BOOK HISTORY, EDUCATION, LEARNING & PRINTING|[94684889A2BD] BOOK HISTORY, EDUCATION, LEARNING & PRINTING -> [FB20CDE518CF] Book History, Calligraphy & Printing|[94684889A2BD] BOOK HISTORY, EDUCATION, LEARNING & PRINTING -> [9D34276F0D25] Di

ALLAIS, Jean Baptiste.

L'art d'ecrire.Paris, chez l'auteur, 1680. Folio. With engraved calligraphic title-page and 18 (of 23) engraved leaves with calligraphic writing samples and illustrations, all engraved by Louis Senault. Disbound, sewn on top.

8 pp. plus 19 (of 24) engr. ll.First edition of a very elaborate basic writing course and copy book, minutely explaining the composition of the various calligraphic hands (fran?oises, b?tardes, financieres), as well as pen decorations and drawings. The engraved title-page reads, "L'art d'?crire ou Le moyen d'exceler en cet art sans maistre" (suggesting a break with the ancient tradition of learning by apprenticeship or under a school master) and spells the author's name "Allais", while the letterpress title-page spells it "Alais". The course was designed by Jean Baptiste Allais, dit le Beaulieu, and engraved by Louis Senault, who was a leading writing master in his own right and therefore ideally suited to engrave his colleague's writing book. Some copies were issued with 12 letterpress leaves and many copies are missing letterpress leaves or plates.Lacking five engraved leaves and browned along the edges.l Becker, Practice of letters 91; Berlin Kat. 5117; Muller, Cat. Calligr., 1; Marzoli 56.

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Book number: 88O9NF01U79O

Keywords: [94684889A2BD] BOOK HISTORY, EDUCATION, LEARNING & PRINTING|[94684889A2BD] BOOK HISTORY, EDUCATION, LEARNING & PRINTING -> [FB20CDE518CF] Book History, Calligraphy & Printing|